The Despoiler (1916)

Genres - Mystery  |   Sub-Genres - Detective Film  |   Run Time - 45 min.  |   Countries - United States  |   MPAA Rating - NR
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Synopsis by Hal Erickson

Not to be confused with the 1915 feature film of the same name, 1916's The Despoiler was a standard-issue 3-reeler from the Essanay folks. Darwin Karr stars as a master detective, determined to get the goods on a clever cad. Adding spice to the caper is the fact that the hero and villain are in love with the same woman. Essanay kept production costs down by casting the film exclusively from the ranks of the studio's stock company, and by utilizing standing sets built for other productions. In other words, The Despoiler was a prime example of the sort of low-budget programmers turned out by the lesser studios of this era.

Characteristics

Keywords

detective, love

Attributes

Low Budget, Low Production Values